Not even a day after reports swirled that Microsoft was preparing to cut thousands of employees, and as the broader tech sector continues to hemorrhage white-collar workers replaced by chatbots, the latest AI-related job-displacement news is coming from Europe's largest software company.

Bloomberg reports that German enterprise software giant SAP, best known for software that supports large corporations running core business operations, is preparing to slow hiring and cut travel costs as it diverts more capital toward developing AI tools.

More color from the report:

SAP has also been pursuing acquisitions to bolster its AI offerings and reportedly lost out on a deal to purchase industrial AI and data firm Cognite, which instead agreed to a $3.1 billion deal with Schneider Electric.

The move comes as CEO Christian Klein reorganizes SAP around AI innovation, taking on a larger role in overseeing product development. It also comes as legacy software names have been battered this year on fears that AI rivals such as Anthropic and OpenAI could disrupt their core businesses.

According to Bloomberg data, SAP had around 110,000 employees as of the first quarter of this year. While the report made no mention of future layoffs, the company's workforce appears to have already peaked in the third quarter of 2022, suggesting the latest "efficiency" push could further unwind years of overhiring.

New report: 

• AI Adoption Rate Across Corporate America Accelerates

SAP shares in Frankfurt were down around 2% on Thursday and about 33% on the year.

The selloff mirrors declines of Salesforce, Workday, and Microsoft, which have cut thousands of jobs while investing heavily in AI. The latest from The Market Ear suggests that, after months of declines, software could be set for a squeeze (read report).